For Ilithon
by Flora-chan
Summary: "Blood pounded in my ears. They were after me. I could hear them laughing and shouting not far behind me." Haruhi's got herself in trouble, what will ensue? AU with Tamaki/Haruhi at the minute but it could change. T for violence. Please take a look :
1. Death Sentence

**Hallo! I had this idea ages ago and, well, I decided to finally write it. It's an alternate universe set in the city of Ilithon, which was once the most lively and rich cities in the whole of the world. It has since fallen into ruin and is home to They. **

**It's a little like Lord of the Rings by Tolkien(which if you haven't read, read it! read it now!), The Various by Steve Augarde****(another very good book) and Alice in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll mainly because of the era and so many different types of people more than anything I think. Anyway, I'm rambling, hope you like it!**

Stuff of Legends

Blood pounded in my ears. They were after me. I could hear them laughing and shouting not far behind me. It was fair to say, I was lost in the ruinous city of Ilithon. I sped round yet another corner, in an attempt to throw them of my trail, when I came up against a high smooth wall. I cursed. I was now trapped and their footsteps were getting nearer and nearer.

I crouched down into a darkish corner hoping They wouldn't see me when they came. I didn't want Them to catch me. I'd been warned about They. First they capture you and torture you as you are taken to their king. Then it gets worse until you die a slow and painful death. Only one person has ever survived the wrath of They in the 300 odd years our civilisation has existed. He was sent back to our village, horribly disfigured and covered in bruises and cuts and missing his left hand. Then, in the night, They came and killed half of our people as well as torching the village to the ground.

I could hear them now, walking slowly, knowing I was trapped. As my situation sank in, I accepted my fate. I was to die at 15. I stood up slowly, tensing my muscles. I wasn't going without a fight. Suddenly I was pulled backwards into several arms and a firm chest. A hand covered my mouth as I cried out. I could hear pounding footsteps and as a stone rolled back into place I saw the hint of purple uniforms. I sat up from the crumpled heap of bodies and blinked while my eyes adjust themselves to the dim light cast by flickering yellow torches on the walls. Outside, the sound of men scrabbling against rock and earth, shouting, grunting. I looked around, as I tried to work out where I was and discovered I was in a very long tunnel. My two saviours picked themselves up and crouched in front of me.

"Look Kaoru, we've found ourselves a new toy" one said while he poked me in the cheek.

"But Hikaru, I don't need anyone other than you" the other whined. They held each other for a moment, gazing into each others eyes.

"Erm, I'm sorry to interrupt" I whispered for They were still the other side of the wall, "but where am I?"

"Oh! It can talk!" Hikaru almost yelled.

"Don't be mean," Kaoru scolded, "now then, lets take you to see the Prince and then you can have something to eat." He smiled.

"Erm okay then…" The twins hooked their arms around mine and dragged me off down the stone passage. As we left, shouting could still be heard the other side of the wall.

"You never answered, where am I?" I'd been dragged around for what seemed like hours but time was probably stretching itself, it was hard to tell in the darkness. The two red haired boys looked at each other before looking down at me.

"This" said the one on my left, Kaoru I think.

"Is the land" the one on my right continued.

"Of the Gorjids!" they laughed together. Huge grins plastered to their faces.

I was confused, "Gorjids? But you're just legends!"

"Oh, is that so? Who are you then?"

"My name is Haruhi Fujioka, and I am a Prey."

They stopped walking and their jaws dropped to the floor in sync. " And you said we were legends!" The two boys peered at me, making me feel very uncomfortable.

"Stop looking at me like that!" As a reply, they hooked my arms again and continued to drag me to our destination in an uncomfortable silence, the only communication was when the twins glanced at each other over my head . The pressure was also getting unbearable as we descended a rather steep slope.

After what seemed like several more hours but was probably only about half of one, we entered a huge cavern. A hundred or so faces turned to look at us as we approached a throne shaped rock on the far side of the cave. A huge fire burned brightly in the middle of the cavern, lighting the room with the same flickering light as the torches in the passages.

"Hikaru! Kaoru! I was beginning to wonder where you were!" A tall blond leaped towards us, "Oh and you've brought us a fair maiden too!" He clapped his hands in glee and danced around the three of us. I wonder if he's mad…

"she was about to be captured by the Ootori's Sire, but we rescued her" didn't they mean They? Well I suppose different civilisations, different names.

"What are you doing Tamaki?" a voice boomed fro the throne rock.

"Oh, you must meet my father! Erm, I'm sorry, what was your name?"

"Haruhi Fujioka"

"Tamaki!" Upon hearing his name, said person grabbed my hand and dragged me over to his father.

**Yay! Please do review and let me know what you think. Also if you can suggest any names for Gorjids, Prey or Ootori's then just send me a review. Thank you for reading!**


	2. A Short History

**Wow two chapters in a couple of hours. I'm not sure how long I can kep this speed up! But I shall try my best. It'll definatly help if I can get my laptop fixed soon rather than borrowing people's. But yes, please enjoy! **

A Short History

Tamaki's father, who I guessed was the Gorjid King, eyed me suspiciously.

"Who are you? You have one minute to state your intentions before I decide whether or not to run you through ."

"Father?"

"Son, I'm busy, now speak girl!"

Ah, this was going to be tricky, "My name is Haruhi Fujioka" I heard myself saying, "and I am one of the tree dwelling people, the Prey. I got lost in the city while trying to outrun some of They," I looked at their blank faces, "I think you called them Ootori's…" the king nodded, "well anyway, I was cornered and Hikaru and Kaoru saved me and brought me here…" I trailed off as anger refilled the kings eyes.

"Hikaru! Kaoru!" the twins saluted and bowed low, sensing they were in trouble. "Do you realise how much danger you've put us in? They're onto us! We'll all be dead by the end of the week!" He drew his sword and pointed it at my stomach. "And no doubt you are involved, the Ootori's are probably paying you, well! Are they?" I stumbled backwards, shaking my head. I tripped and crashed into Tamaki's arms.

"Your Highness," Hikaru said, still bowed on the floor, "It is against our ways to leave someone to die when we are able to save them, are you suggesting we should've abandoned Haruhi to die?" The king looked away without answering.

"I'm so sorry" I was in tears as I leapt back onto my feet, "I never meant to cause trouble for anyone, I was only looking for glass…"

"Glass?" asked Tamaki who was still steadying me

"Yeah, we were told about it as children and I saw it glinting in the sunlight and wanted to see it close up" I sniffed.

"Hikaru! Kaoru! Go fetch some glass for this poor fair maiden!" I watched as his father withdrew his sword and sheathed it again. "Okay," he said, "I believe you, but you have still put us in grave danger"

"I know and I'm sorry"

"Now then, what intrigues me is how you come to be standing here anyway, you should be in a legend"

"If, I'm not too bold Your Highness, so should you."

"Ah, it's such a shame, but please, take a seat and tell us all about yourself and the Ilithites. Why do you call yourselves Prey anyway?" I sat down on the nearest bench, Tamaki sat next to me on my right and his father on my left.

"Well," I began, "legend says that at one time all three races lived comfortably together in Ilithon. Then They, the Ootori's, began to get more and more controlling, eventually over throwing the king and so my people escaped into the woods that surround us and have lived there for the last 300 years or so. Around a hundred years ago, a man called Ritsu Kasanoda was caught by the Ootori's and was disfigured before being sent back to our old village. That night the Ootori's came and burnt the village down, killing half the village in the process and so my people moved, and have since then lived high up in the trees. I don't know why we call ourselves Prey, but I think it may be because maybe we did not want to be associated with Ilithon anymore, or maybe people forgot over the years and overheard Ootori's call us Prey."

His Highness then spoke, "Hmm, how very interesting. Well about the same time as when you left for the woods, we move down into this very cavern, and have since then expanded under the city unbeknown to the Ootori's and have since faded from existance, other than in legends. Maybe one day the Ootori's will be overthrown and both our people can return to the land that is rightfully ours. "

At this moment, the twins came running back, holding out a large sheet of multicoloured material. "Here you are Haruhi" they panted. Slowly I took it from them and traced m fingers over it.

"Thank you" I frowned.

"Something wrong Haruhi?" Tamaki spoke gently beside my ear.

"It's just not how I thought it would be sire…" the twins faces fell, hurriedly I cried, "It's very pretty! I just thought it would be shiny, I've watched it shimmer for years and well…"

"Hold it up to the light Haruhi" I did as I was told. I gasped as I saw the firelight streaming through, catching the colours and making them dance in front of my eyes, "Isn't it beautiful?" Tamaki whispered.

I turned to look at him, "Yes, yes it is" I smiled.

"Haruhi?"

"Yes Kaoru?" breaking eye contact with Tamaki and turning back to face him, "Would you like some food now?" Hikaru looked very uncomfortable.

"Oh, yes please"

"This way Princess," Tamaki stood up and offered his hand.

"How did you…"I quickly covered my mouth with my hand.

"How did I what? Haruhi?"

"It doesn't matter, let's go, I'm famished."

**Ooooh! What was Haruhi about to reveal? How exciting! Oh and please do review! They make me happy, and also gives me an idea of what to do next. Things should get a little more exciting in the next couple of chapters, because things actually start happening rather than talking, yay! They should also get longer... these are mighty short at the minute, I'm sorry, I must try harder!**


	3. Spies

_Hey there again! I'm sorry it's been so long, don't you hate coursework sometimes? Anywho, it's a bit longer than last time I think and all the Host Club's in it briefly, yay! Also, in the words of Mr Presley, 'a little less conversation, a little more action' is needed with this story, I'm soory about all the history and stuff but hopefully now most of it's covered we can finally get on with some actual plot. Appologies for any changes in tense, for some reason I automatically write in the past tense and the present is tricky, so if I've missed a bit, let me know and I'll correct it. I've kept you waiting long enough, enjoy~~~_

**Spies**

"Urrrg…" I stir slowly and roll over, turning away from the sunlight coming through cracks in the rocks above. I spring up suddenly leaping clear of the futon when I feel something twitch underneath my stomach. "S…sire?"

"Ah Haruhi, you're awake, have a good night?"

"Um, yeah I guess. Wait, did we share a futon?"

"Yeah, don't you remember? The twins were rather upset about it but I won the game."

"Game?" I ask slowly. Why can't I remember any of this? And why does my head feel like it's being smashed by a rock. Come to think of it, this is how I felt after Kira spiked my gooseberry juice with a lot of alcohol last summer… "Did you get me drunk?"

"Not intentionally… we offered you a drink of Gorjum or two; it is alcoholic but not strongly." I raise an eyebrow as he pulls a particularly sheepish face.

"Aww! Haruhi's a lightweight!" Hikaru and Kaoru sidle over and drape their arms over my shoulder.

"Oh stop it guys! I'm going back to sleep. Tamaki… sire… shift." And with that I flop back onto the futon and curl up, asleep in seconds.

I wake some time later. The sun rays are steeper and the smell of something meaty wafts to my nose.

" Haruhi~" It's the twins, sure they saved my life and I'm eternally grateful and all, but they aren't half annoying. With a grunt, I roll over and bury my head in the pillow. It's very soft and fluffy. 2 pairs of hands grab my arms and lift me off the bed with very little effort.

"Hey! Let me go!" I yell as I attempt to kick and scratch my captors. Sadly, it doesn't seem to work.

"Milord wants to have breakfast with you and then we thought we'd show you the secret lookout onto the Ootori's territory and palace!"

"Urrrg," I groan, "Well I'll get washed then" The twins drop me haphazardly in a pile on the floor before walking off.

"There is water in there. We'll wait for you here. There are also some new clothes round there too, we hope you like them, we designed them ourselves" They say simultaneously with that signature grin plastered too both of their faces.

'In there' turns out to be a small cubicle, set back from the room into the rock face. It has no door but is dark and so you can hide away from the light coming from outside the small space. At the back is a bowl on a pedestal, I assume with water in and on a small chair next to it, a small bundle of clothes are arranged. Quickly, I splash water on my face before I slip out of my ragged clothes and into the ones provided. There is a light green dress of a light woven fabric and brown leggings. How they know my size I don't know or want to particularly. I pull my long brown hair into a ponytail with a piece of ribbon and make my way back to the twins.

"Look Kaoru, our toy's ready"

"I'm not your toy, now where's food"

"Wow, someone's not a morning person" I glare at Hikaru who promptly hides behind Kaoru while crying "Scary demon lady!" Sighing, Kaoru and I walk off towards the main entrance of the room.

Eventually we arrive in the main cavern where a plump lady promptly passes us a bowl of a porridge-like substance. The twins gulp theirs down quickly while I sniff at it suspiciously.

"Don't trust my cooking eh? Ain't it good enough for you, huh?"

"I'm sorry," I mumble as an apology to the large lady whom I assume is the cook before following the redhead's example by gulping down the contents of my own bowl. The woman mutters something about 'ungrateful rich people' before taking the bowls and shuffling off.

"Okay! Let's get onto the main event for today!" My 'saviours' chant simultaneously, grabbing my arms, one each before dragging me off down another corridor.

"Erm, where's Tamaki today?"

"Tono? Oh, he's taking care of some business matters."

"Oh," for some reason I feel slightly disappointed.

We carry on in silence for a while twisting and turning through the many different tunnels. It's amazing no one gets lost, but I suppose if you've been here since birth everyone would know it like the back of their respective hand.

"We're here!" Hikaru breaths in my ear.

"Where?" I whisper back.

"One of the lookout posts of course!" Kaoru replies pointing at a horizontal crack in the wall. There's sunlight coming through the crack. "Go on" they smile, "take a peek"

Cautiously, I step towards the wall and place my eye over the crack. Outside is a beautiful garden full of fountains, lush grass and so many flowers and trees I can't name half of them. Over to the left is a very large but beautiful palace made from marble glittering in the dazzling sunlight.

"It's beautiful" I breathe.

"That, is the home of King Kyōya, leader of all the Ootori's. It used to be the home of the former ruler of Ilitha until the Ootori's came back from exile and took over."

"What happened to the old ruler?"

"He was killed in the battle but his only daughter fled like the rest of our ancestors into the forests. After a few years some came back here to fight the Ootori's but were forced into hiding and have remained in these caverns ever since." Kauru explained patiently.

"So you know, someone you know could be the rightful heir to the throne if Kyōya is brought down."

"How do you know that they're not here with you?" I ask calmly, although really I don't know what to think. If the Princess of Ilitha was living in our old settlement before we had to move, then that would mean that her descendant's were now the rulers of our little treetop village.

"Because she stayed in the forests. She also had a son before the Knight's left to take back Ilitha."

"Oh, what was her name?"

"Renge Houshakuji originally, but she changed her surname to… something beginning with F I think so that people would start to treat her equally, but they still insisted she lead the village." I nod numbly, this is all far to coincidental for my liking, before turning back to look over the gardens. There's a tall, dark haired man wandering around the flower patches close by now with an even taller dark haired man and a short blonde child nearby. Slowly the medium height man turns round and stares straight at the crack. It feels like he's staring straight into my soul. Slowly, I step backwards, the air around us suddenly seeming well below zero.

"Let's go" breathes Kaoru and we quickly but silently hurry back down the tunnel.

Once we're at a safe distance, all three of us simultaneously break into a sprint towards the main cavern.

"Do you think he saw us?" I ask breathlessly as the three of us collapse in a heap on a bed, which I assume is one of the twins.

"I don't know, it felt like he looked straight into my soul!"

"Who did?" We all sit bolt upright at this new voice.

"No one Sire," We reply simultaneously still panting heavily. Tamaki quirks a slender eyebrow before deciding to leave it and move on.

"My darling daughter! Where have you been? Daddy's been so worried about you spending time with these devilish twins!"

"I'm fine Sire, and I'm not your daughter" I state stressing the 'Sire'.

"Oh look, he's gone to his corner, hi-five Haruhi!" I turn to see Tamaki mumbling in a dark corner with mushrooms sprouting around him and Hikaru's hand in my face. I stare blankly at the hand with one raised eyebrow.

"You're meant to slap his hand" Kaoru giggles.

"Ohhh…" I comply gingerly, not entirely sure what I'm meant to do.

Hikaru laughs, "Don't they teach you anything up there?" At this Tamaki appears in front of me.

"Oh beautiful princess, do not listen to these harlequins, I'm sure your education was more than adequate up there." I stare blankly at this idiot of a prince before turning back to lie on the bed. Suddenly the sound of pounding feet is heard in the tunnel outside.

"Sire! Here you are, I've been looking all over for you!" It was a small messenger boy, his hair obscuring his face as he held his knees to catch his breath.

"What is it? Is something wrong?"

"Very Sire, The Ootori's have broken in and are making their way to the central cavern"

_Ooooh Cliffy for you because I'm just that mean. Next chapter should be up later this week hopefully, so long as I don't get distracted too often xD Thank you for reading and please review, they make me happy_

_Till next time ~~~_


	4. Sword Song

_Hi there! And so it is time for chapter 4! It's pretty violent this one, I really don't know how I wrote it like this! I think I've been reading too much Violinist of Hameln... This chapter's a bit of a different style this time with a lot more description rather than conversation I think. I've also changed the spelling of Kaoru's name in the last chapter, and I call myself a fan haha. But anywho, please enjoy~~~_

_Also, Happy Easter!_

**Sword Song**

"What? How? Where? When? Where's father?"

"His Majesty is gathering the knights in the main cavern Sire, but his Highness requested you leave immediately with the Hitachiin's and civilians."

"I knew I saw that Ootori smirk earlier" Hikaru whispers to Kauru.

"But I can't just leave! You devil's this is your entire fault!" Tamaki spins round to face us, his face an unhealthy grey and his violet eyes burning with anger.

"But if we hadn't saved Haruhi, we'd have never met her!" The twins countered simultaneously. This was getting quite awkward and placing the blame wasn't exactly helping the situation at hand.

"True, but if you hadn't saved her they would never have found the entrance!"

"So you'd prefer if we just let her die? I thought you of all people would agree with us saving her!"

"But, but…!"

"Aren't you always preaching that we should look out for others?"

"Yes, but… but this is different! In return for one life you've sacrificed the safety of a hundred others and our home!"

I've had enough. I coughed, "I'm sorry, but this isn't helping anyone, can't we argue whose fault this is once we're somewhere safe?" All 6 pairs of eyes turn on me as if I'd just appeared in a puff of smoke. The messenger boy had run off while Tamaki and the twins had been arguing.

"Ah Princess that is a most wonderful idea…"

"Say's the one who wanted me to have died a moment ago" and with that, I turn and follow after the boy.

"Where are you going?" Three voices call after me. I ignore them, after all, their views are so backward they'd never let me near a sword and that is exactly what I'm going to need. After all, one good deed deserves another or so the saying goes.

* * *

If I'm honest, I still have no idea where the main cavern in relation to the twin's bedroom, but this will not stop me and I'm too stubborn to ask for directions anyway. So, upon reaching a junction in the tunnels, I use my common sense and take the widest tunnel, praying that luck is on my side. Eventually, I hear three voices in the tunnels behind me shouting my name. "Idiots," I whisper under my breath, "at this rate They will hear and then we'll all be dead"

Now I'm not usually one for talking to myself, but then again, this isn't exactly a normal situation and so I think I'm allowed. This is my logic any way. "Shh, you three, I'm down here," I called, just slightly above speaking volume. I could hear people muttering now from the other end of the tunnel. And marching feet.

"I think there's one down here sir" A voice very close by shouted

"Take a look then, and be snappy about it." A muffled voice replied, presumably the superior's voice from further down the corridor. Quickly, I duck down into the shadows and wait for the man to pass. The flickering wall lights cast an eerie glow down the corridor but thankfully the idiot's I have become friends with have quietened down. Slowly, I rise up onto the balls of my feet so that I have a better chance of fighting the man that id now very close by. Pressing myself closer to the wall, he walks straight past without noticing me and continues further down the tunnel. Quietly, I stalk behind him, waiting for the opportunity to strike. My guess is that he is trained as part of the army and so I'll need my wits more than my strength to beat him.

I see Tamaki in front, pressed to the wall to try and conceal himself, badly I may add. Carefully, I throw a stone over the man's head so that it lands a little way down the tunnel, thus getting his attention. He immediately turns to face me, sliming slyly.

"I've got you now little one" He says in the same voice my dad used to use when we played hide and seek, but this time with a more menacing undertone, obviously.

"Now!" I shout and before I know it, the man's face crumples as his knees buckle revealing the two pumpkin-haired twins grinning from ear to ear and hi-fiving one another as I believe the term they used was. To the sound of many people running down the corridor, I quickly grab the fallen man's sword as the three of us melt back into the shadows dragging Tamaki's shell with us. Apparently he can't handle violence too well. We creep our way up the corridor so that we'll be behind the Ootori's when they stumble on the fallen man.

As the last of the group run past, a reach the sword out so that the last two run into it, rendering their heads to roll onto the floor. Hikaru grabs both of the swords of the floor and throws to Kaoru. I glance behind to find that Tamaki's almost in a coma. He really is an idiot. Hearing our shuffling behind them, the last few rows turn to face us, to be quickly dispatched by Kaoru and I. Of course, their cries attract the attention of the other members of the group as well as those still in the tunnel this group came from.

"Tono, wake up you idiot!" Hikaru is crouching over the unconscious figure in an attempt to get reinforcements to this desperate situation. I grab another sword from one of the dead men on the floor as Kaoru does the same and we stand back to back facing both oncoming fronts. I step towards the original search party, swords swinging in large arcs around me, so fast you can hear them splitting the air. Many of the men in front of me drop their jaws before quickly regaining their posture. Some look genuinely petrified, shaking in their boots while others watch in a detached fascination and a few whose eyes are filled with an incomprehensible rage. I take another step forward.

"Come on then," I tease, "show me why generations have been hiding from you" This seems to snap them out of whatever they were thinking as both sides start advancing once again. I dispatch the first row quickly with a sweeping arc of both my swords straight across all three men's stomachs. They fell to the floor as the next row advance over them. I use my right arm to fend off the man on the right while thrusting my left at the other two men. Eventually, I manage to stab the middle man in the stomach before twisting my blade out and swinging it at the man on the left, swiftly cutting into his neck and then back across the stomach. Still sparing with the man on the right as two more men take the fallen's place, I take a quick arching swipe starting from under my right arm.

After only a few minutes, the tunnel ahead is littered with bodies as I turn to help Kaoru who has also made an impressive pile around himself. We advance down the tunnel together to be joined by Hikaru after we pass Tamaki. We charge down the tunnel, swinging and stabbing at everything that moves before retreating back to Tamaki.

We heave him up onto Hikaru's shoulder.

"This is an eerie silence if ever I've heard one," Kaoru remarks.

We make our way to the main cavern, slowly because of the slight injury Kaoru received to his left leg and Hikaru's burden which, although Kaoru and I have many attempts to share, he refuses. Finally we get there, the silence weighing down on us even more. I peak around the corner to look inside to see the last Ootori leave through the tunnel opposite, swaggering like he owns the place.

"You stay here, I'll go take a closer look," I say firmly, it really wouldn't be good for anyone to see the piles of bodies covering the floor of the cavern, especially not if you know everyone.

Slowly, I make my way through the collection of disembodied hands, legs, arms and heads trying to find any survivors while at the same time trying not to throw up. Carefully, I make my way over to the other side to where I thought I heard someone muttering.

"Haruhi!" rasps a voice just behind me. I turn around, searching through the bodies for the one that called me.

"Sire?" I gasp when I see Tamaki's father trying vainly to sit up. I run over to him and gently help him lie down.

"Where's Tamaki? I need to see him"

"He's waiting with Hikaru and Kaoru in the tunnel" I don't think mentioning his current state will help the situation.

"Let me guess, he passed out right?" he tries to laugh but succeeds in coughing up blood. "Well, in this case, you'll have to deliver this for me. I want you all to leave, immediately, find somewhere safe and recover. Tamaki is now king, not that it matters anymore, you should give him this" he stops to take a few deep breaths before handing me his crown with a shaky hand, "and Princess, I hope one day you can reclaim what is rightfully yours, but until then, look after Tamaki will you? He's hopeless with a sword" he smiles and closes his eyes, "thank you, it's a shame I'll never get to see you as my daughter-in-law"

"Huh? What, wait!" I place my ear to his chest but I can't hear him breathing. Shakily I stand up, and walk back to my friends with my eyes unfocused and my hands tightly clenched onto both my acquired swords and the crown .

* * *

Tamaki had come round by the time I got back.

"Oh darling daughter, Daddy was so worried about you!"

I shrug, "Yeah… we'd better leave"

"Is no one coming with us?" Hikaru asks tentatively.

"No, oh and Tamaki, don't look in there," I call as I walk away towards the twins bedroom, "is there anything you need to pack?"

And so we finally make our way to the surface with a couple of rucksacks each full of food, clothes and the crown tucked inside one that I am carrying. Tamaki's oddly happy right now and so it really isn't the time to tell him. Let him live in ignorance a bit longer. We slip out of a hole in the wall of a derelict building the other side of the city from where I entered all that time ago, as the chances of the Ootori's standing guard there to pick off the last few survivors are very high. Silently, we sneak down many different passageways until we are too tired to walk. We squeeze through the gap left by a falling door and creep upstairs to sleep.

_Soooo, there we go. Hope you liked it! _

_Like, dislike, seen a mistake, confused? Let me know!_


	5. Plan A

_Hallo again! I have nothing else to say, other than a thankyou to cassie246 and Purplelini for reviewing :) _

_Please enjoy~~~_

**Plan A**

I can feel them on my back. The eyes. Always staring at me. Deep onyx grey eyes that can see straight through your soul. I frantically look around me trying to find something in this great nothingness. I was in the middle of what seemed like a white clearing that goes on and on as far as the eye can see with nothing I can detect to break up the bleakness. I start walking in a random direction.

After some time of dragging my feet I see smoke rising in the distance. I quicken my pace, almost breaking into a run in an attempt to reach the fire. As I get closer I start to pick out large cone like shapes dotted around that were set alight. They stretch far away to all the horizons, hundreds of smoking piles. Finally, I walk up to the nearest mound before reeling back in horror.

"Do you believe in destiny Haruhi?" I spin around quickly, reaching for a sword but finding none there. I peer out into the distance, slowly tracing my way round a circle but finding no one there.

"Who are you? Where are you?" I ask in my most commanding voice, usually reserved for sorting out the misbehaving teens back home. The voice laughs.

"Feisty aren't we Princess"

"Where are you? Show yourself!"

"Very well" A sudden gust of wind pass' by and a black cloak walks up to me before bowing low on the floor. One hand is placed on his back which has a small cat puppet on it. He then rises to reveal piercing sea green eyes lurking beneath the hood of the cloak.

"Who… who are you?" I ask shakily.

"Umehito Nekozawa, royal aide, at your service Princess" He bowed again.

"Umehito… but you're in The Book! How can you possibly be here?" This is maddening!

He chuckles again, "Your language is so primitive Princess," he smiles, "but yes, I am one and the same. It is nearly time, and that is why I'm here."

"Time for what?" I'm so confused.

"See these?" He gestures to the piles around us, "these are the bodies of all the people slain by the Ootori's over the centuries. Kind of gruesome don't you think?" I nod numbly in response, this revelation not quite sinking in, while looking out to the horizon where the ground was becoming grass as the sky got darker. "This is where you come in. You must overcome the scum that is Kyōya and take back the throne."

"I… I… I can't!" He clicks his fingers and I yelp as a streak of lightning leaps across the sky followed by a deep rumble of thunder.

"Please Princess, we need you to help us," I look down to see a small child tugging at my sleeve. A few more children came to join the first. Slowly I kneel down to their height, turning around at the same time to face the… bodies but without looking at them.

"Yuuki, Arai, Momoko! Come away from her," I look up to see that instead of piles I am now surrounded by thousands and thousands of people. Quickly, I leap up and start walking backwards, panic building in my stomach. "She's a heartless traitor to her people that it is her duty to protect" Frantically I look around, trying to find Umehito. The hundreds of lines of people begin to walk towards me. I start running sideways before turning round fully and sprinting as far away as possible. I run blindly trying to put as much distance between them and myself.

Suddenly I trip and find myself falling backwards down a deep hole. The children's faces crowd around the top of the hole. I close my eyes and wait for the inevitable.

I land on something soft and springy. Cracking my right eye open I look around without lifting my head. Eventually I heave myself up onto my elbows to look around properly. I was in a large room on a huge bed with dark purple curtains around it. Along the wall at the foot of the bed is a large bank of windows looking out over a well kept garden.

"Well Sire, he kind of, well, erm…" A nervous voice stuttered nearby.

"Spit it out!"

"He… he escaped Sire"

"Do explain further"

"Well, we followed him around the city and we knew we had him cornered but when we turned the corner we saw part of the wall moving and he was gone."

"How interesting… Get all the men that were involved in this to open up that section of the wall. I want it down by tomorrow evening and get the rest of the guard to be on alert. We launch an attack at sundown tomorrow."

"Yes Sire!" The sound of running feet filled the air as the room faded away to white. I found myself sitting in the bleakness that I first entered.

"So you see, the reason that the Gorjids died was your fault."

"Umehito? Where are you?"

He chuckles again, "That's up to you to find out. As to Kyōya, I hope you make the right choice."

"That's not an answer! Umehito! Umehito!"

"Haruhi, shh, you'll alert the Ootori's" I'm sitting bolt upright in the little house we found last night, drenched in a cold sweat with Tamaki's had placed reassuringly on my right shoulder and the twins sitting on my left looking worried.

"Sorry, I…" I trail off, remembering fragments of my dream.

"Bad dream?" Tamaki asks gently.

"You could say that," I close my eyes only to see the hundreds of piles waiting for me there. "I have to go to Kyōya's palace."

"What?" The twins pipe up, "But that's suicide!"

"I have to go," I whispered.

"Why? Is this to do with Umehito?" Tamaki asks.

"Who's Umehito?" Hikaru and Kaoru ask at the same time.

"The Royal Aide to Princess Renge Houshakuji 300 years ago." I reply slowly

"So why is he in your dreams?"

I sigh, "You know you said that I would know the descendants of Princess Renge but you wouldn't, well, actually you do." Tamaki watches us confusion written in his features as Kaoru's and then Hikaru's eyes filled with understanding.

"Princess?" To this they both throw themselves onto the floor in a low bow.

"What are you doing?" I hiss, "Get up, get up!"

"But Princess we must serve you"

"You shall do no such thing, you are my friends and do not need to serve me. But this is the reason I have to find Kyōya and overthrow his rule."

"Then I shall come with you" Tamaki states firmly after listening to the previous conversation.

"Yeah, and us too"

I smile weakly at my friends, "Thank you" I whisper as I reach out to hug them all.

* * *

We ate some of the bread that we had brought with us before packing our things up. I walk over to Tamaki who is putting his sleeping sack back into a rucksack, the crown in my hands. "Tamaki," I say softly.

"Yes Haruhi?" He kept his back to me as he continued wrestling with the rucksack.

"Your… your father asked me to give you this," I stutter, a tear falling slowly from my eyes. I still remember the day father told me that my mother had been killed by the Ootori's. I briefly wonder if she was one of those thousands of people I saw last night before suppressing the memory. Tamaki turned slowly to face me and regards the crown in my hands.

"Did he die in pain?" Tamaki asks in a measured voice, in his attempt to stop himself from crying. I reach my arms around his neck and lean up towards his face.

"A little bit," I whisper into the crook of his neck, "but he was peaceful." I felt Tamaki's arms shakily wrap around my waist as he buried his face in my hair, sobbing gently. I reached up to run a few strands of his hair through my fingers soothingly. "I'm sorry," I murmur softly, "I'm so sorry."

_It's so sad *cries* but yes, I always wanted to write a dream sequence so here we go, although it wasn't intended to turn out like that. I guess that's because this story has completely changed direction as I write it (this chapter doesn't even exist on my original outline but I quite like it). Ah well, we shall see how it goes. Thankyou for reading and please review! They brighten my day :) Till next time!_


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